Full-body atomised bath and method for providing a full body atomised bath

ABSTRACT

A method for administering a full-body mist bath, as well as a full-body mist-bath unit, having a bathing cubicle for accommodating at least one person and atomized liquid. A liquid atomizer is provided with a high-pressure chamber in which the liquid is compressed by the action of a high pressure to prepare the atomized liquid. A nozzle is provided for explosive ejection of the compressed liquid subjected to high pressure, so that it bursts apart into small particles. In the process, the particles become positively charged and their photon emission is increased.

In a standard steam bath, steam is fed continuously into a bathingcubicle. Thereby the air in the bathing cubicle is saturated with steam.Part of the steam condenses to water in the form of finely disperseddroplets. Because of the heat of the introduced steam, a relatively hightemperature of approximately 40° C. to 60° C. prevails in the bathingcubicle.

When a person occupies the bathing cubicle, his or her blood flow andtranspiration are increased. This leads to rapid water losses(“cleansing”) and, by virtue of the absence of evaporation, to heataccumulation that influences the metabolism and circulation. This mustbe dissipated by subsequent cooling under a temperature-controlledshower or in a cold-water pool.

Compared with the steam bath, the temperature is even higher in a saunabath. Dry heat at approximately 85° C. to 95° C. usually prevails in itsbathing cubicle. The high temperature stimulates the blood flow and thusalso the metabolism.

These effects can be intensified by pouring water (infusion) over heatedstones in the hot-air cubicle and thereby generating steam. In manycases, healing herbs, ethereal oils, etc. are additionally present inthe infusion water and thus also in the generated steam. Similarconditions can also be achieved for the already mentioned steam fed tothe bathing cubicle of the steam bath.

The usual sauna and steam baths, however, suffer from the disadvantageamong others that the circulation of the bather is severely stressed bythe high temperature in the bathing cubicle.

In Patent Abstracts of Japan C-853, Jul. 25, 1991, Vol. 15/No. 293,there is disclosed a mist bath into which an atomized liquid is fed.

To produce the mist, the liquid is forced through small apertures of anozzle, thus becoming atomized.

Patent Abstracts of Japan, 09154913 A, Jun. 17, 1997, cited inopposition, discloses a steam bath into which relatively hot steam issupposed to be fed. For this purpose, hot water is forced by a pumpthrough small apertures of a spray nozzle. Hereby the hot water isatomized. The spray nozzles can be closed by a cover whenever hot wateris not supposed to be supplied.

In Patent Abstracts of Japan, C-1125, Oct. 28, 1993, Vol. 17/No. 591,there is described a steam sauna in which an atomized liquid is fed intoa sauna room. In the process, liquid is fed via a pump to a spraynozzle, where it is forced through small apertures, thus atomizing theliquid.

In German Patent DE 4228229 C1, cited in opposition, there is describeda method and a means for generating mist. For this purpose a liquid isexcited into oscillations in an atomizer vessel by means of a quartzoscillator, so that a cloud of liquid droplets is produced.

The object of the invention is to provide a different type of unit and adifferent type of method for administering a full-body bath, whilecreating numerous advantages.

It achieves this object with a full-body mist-bath unit having a bathingcubicle for accommodating at least one person and atomized liquid, andhaving, for preparation of the atomized liquid, a liquid atomizer, whichis provided with a high-pressure chamber in which the liquid iscompressed by the action of a high pressure of at least 100 bar, andwith a nozzle for explosive ejection of the compressed liquid subjectedto high pressure, so that it bursts apart into small particles by virtueof its high internal pressure (claim 1).

The invention also achieves the aforesaid object by a method foradministering a full-body mist bath to at least one person in a bathingcubicle, with the following steps: compression of a liquid by the actionof a high pressure of at least 100 bar on the liquid; explosive ejectionof the liquid, so that it bursts apart into small particles by virtue ofits high internal pressure; supplying the atomized liquid to the bathingcubicle.

Thus the skin of the bather is not exposed to hot air containing hotsteam, as it would be in the standard steam and sauna baths. Instead, anatomized liquid acts thereon. In contrast to sauna and steam baths,therefore, a much lower temperature can prevail in the bathing cubicle,especially a temperature lower than 35° C., and especially preferably of22 to 28° C. Therewith less stress is imposed on the circulation of thebather than is the case in sauna or steam baths.

In an advantageous embodiment in this connection, the entire body, or inother words all of the skin of the bather is exposed to the mistparticles, corresponding to a “full bath” in the sauna. Another option,as in a “partial bath” in the sauna, is a treatment of the entire bodyexcept for individual body parts (such as the head, trunk together withlegs, etc.).

According to the inventive unit and the inventive method, the liquid isso strongly compressed that its volume is decreased. For liquids, thisis generally achieved only at very high pressures. The compressed liquidis then discharged into the normal atmosphere of, for example, 1 bar. Inthe process, the liquid bursts apart into minute particles by virtue ofits high internal pressure, or in other words it explodes in alldirections to form a fine mist.

Preferably the liquid to be atomized is water (claims 2, 10).Advantageously, an oil can also be used as the liquid to be atomized,especially an organic oil (claims 4, 12), for example peanut oil. Duringinventive atomization of the oil, it is excited to increased emission ofphotons as a result of the high pressure applied and of the subsequentbursting apart into small mist particles. Through the action of the mistparticles excited in this way, for example on the skin of the person inthe bathing cubicle, biophoton emission is increased in that person.“Biophotons” are to be understood as the light quanta of the (weak)radiation emitted by the cells of the person. The emission intensity canbe determined, for example, by using a photomultiplier to measure thelight emitted from a blood sample of the person.

In an especially preferred embodiment, the full-body mist bath isadministered for 10 to 30 minutes (claim 13). The biophoton emission ofthe blood of the person is then increased by more than 20% relative tothe initial condition immediately after the full-body bath, andsubsequently it decreases linearly back to the original emissionintensity. Thereby a durable therapeutic effect is achieved in thebather.

In an especially preferred embodiment, additional salts have been mixedwith the water (claims 3, 11), especially Dead Sea salts. The water ispreferably saturated with salts, or is close to the saturation point.After atomization of the water, the salts are then contained in the mistparticles as well, and so can act on the skin of the person in thebathing cubicle. In this way skin diseases can be treated withoutnecessitating a stay at a health resort close to a sea with high saltcontent (Baltic Sea, Dead Sea, etc.). The salty mist particles have atoning effect even on healthy skin.

Preferably the water may also be enriched with vitamins instead of or inaddition to the salt. Analogously, in an especially preferredembodiment, vitamins are also contained in the oil that can be usedinstead of water as the liquid to be atomized. Advantageously,medications may also be dissolved in the liquid to be atomized.

Preferably the bathing cubicle can be sealed such that it is airtight tothe exterior (claim 5). This ensures that the generated mist particlesdo not escape outward from the bathing cubicle. These happen to bepositively charged during the inventive atomization of the liquid.Consequently, the mist particles repel one another, and so—withoutsealing—they rapidly diffuse out of the bathing cubicle.

In an advantageous embodiment, a UV source is provided in the bathingcubicle (claim 6). Thereby the person's skin is exposed to ultravioletradiation during bathing. This has the result that the advantageouseffects of the mist particles on the skin as described in the foregoingare further intensified.

In a further preferred embodiment, a shower is provided in the bathingcubicle (claim 7). Thus the body can be washed after bathing. In theprocess, it is possible, for example, to rinse off salt residuesremaining on the skin.

In a particularly preferred d embodiment, a fan is provided in thebathing cubicle, especially in a tube of the bathing cubicle into whichthe liquid is ejected (claim 8) Therewith it is possible, for example,to disperse the mist particles in the bathing cubicle or, for example,to boost the supply of atomized liquid to the bathing cubicle.

In the high-pressure chamber, the liquid is subjected to a pressure ofpreferably at least 100 bar, especially of higher than 150 bar. Inparticular, the pressure ranges between 200 and 800 bar. Thereby it isensured that, during explosive ejection of the liquid from the nozzleinto the normal atmosphere, it bursts apart into small mist particles.These have a size of about 0.5 to 10 μm³, preferably approximately 1μm³. Thus one mm³ of liquid bursts apart into one billion particles. Incontrast, if the liquid were at too low a pressure, it would emerge fromthe nozzle as a closed jet.

In an advantageous embodiment, between 0.01 and 0.5 ml of liquid,especially approximately 0.05 ml, is ejected through the nozzle in eachcase (claim 14). In a particularly preferred embodiment, the liquid isejected into a tube and supplied via the tube to the bathing cubicle(claim 15).

The invention will now be explained in more detail on the basis of apractical example and of the attached drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a mist-bath unit according to thepresent invention from the front right;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the atomizer of themist-bath unit;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the tube and of thebench of the mist-bath unit; and

FIG. 4 shows a schematic sectional view of the tube of the mist-bathunit from above.

According to FIG. 1, a mist bath 2 is provided with a bottom plate 3 anda top plate 4, each of which have substantially circular cross section.The upper ends of two front support tubes 5 a, b and of two rear supporttubes 5 c, d are each fastened to a side wall of bottom plate 3, and thelower ends of support tubes 5 a, b, c, d are each fastened to a sidewall of top plate 4. Between each of front tubes 5 a, b and thecorresponding rear support tube 5 c, d disposed therebehind thereextends from bottom plate 3 to top plate 4 a right and a left side panel6 a, b respectively of acrylic glass. Correspondingly, a rear panel 6 cextends between the two rear support tubes 5 c, d from bottom plate 3 totop plate 4. This is also made of acrylic glass. Between front supporttubes 5 a, b, bottom plate 3 and top plate 4 there are provided a leftand a right front panel 6 d, e. These are each displaceable transverselyrelative to front support tubes 5 a, b and, in the undisplaced positionshown in FIG. 1, they directly adjoin one another via appropriatesealing lips (not illustrated). A bathing cubicle 1 formed between topplate 4, bottom plate 3 and panels 6 a, b, c, d, e is then airtight tothe exterior.

Inside bathing cubicle 1, a tube 32 extends between bottom plate 3 andtop plate 4. Thereon there is disposed a shower 9. In addition, awatertight bench 7 is disposed on one upper side of bottom plate 3. A UVsource 8 is provided on one lower side of top plate 4. Top plate 4 canbe separated into a front top-plate section 4 a and a rear top-platesection 4 b, and bottom plate 3 into a front bottom-plate section 3 aand a rear bottom-plate section 3 b. In this way mist bath 2 as a wholecan be separated into a front and a rear part. The front part is thenprovided with front top-plate section 4 a with UV source 8, frontbottom-plate section 3 a, front panels 6 d, e, front support tubes 5 a,b and side panels 6 a, b. The rear part is provided with rear top-platesection 4 b, rear bottom-plate section 3 b, rear support tubes 5 c, 5 d,rear panel 6 c, tube 32 and bench 7. In this way, as illustrated in FIG.3, the essential technically complex devices for generating anddistributing mist are mounted in tube 32 and in bench 7, specificallytwo atomizers 20, two sound absorbers 34 a, 34 b and one fan 35 (seehereinafter). Thus the technically complex devices are preassembled inthe rear part of mist bath 2; these devices do not have to be assembledseparately at the point of use of mist bath 2. Instead, the onlynecessary task there is to join the rear part of mist bath 2 to itsfront part.

If right front panel 6 e according to FIG. 1 is shifted toward the rightrear in the direction of arrow B, transversely relative to right frontsupport tube 5 b, and left front panel 6 d is shifted toward the leftrear in the direction of arrow A, transversely relative to left frontsupport tube 5 b, such that they are disposed behind right or left sidepanel 6 b, 6 a respectively, a person can step into bathing cubicle 1and occupy bench 7. Thereupon bathing cubicle 1 is sealed once again bydisplacing front panels 6 d, e back to the position shown in FIG. 1.

According to FIG. 2, each atomizer 20 is provided with a hollowcylindrical compression space 21 having an aperture 28. Compressionspace 21 is in communication via a line 26 with a high-pressure pump 25,from which the liquid to be atomized is delivered. This contains waterwith a high concentration of salts dissolved therein, especially DeadSea water, or an organic oil.

A conical piston 27 is disposed in compression space 21. Piston 27 isdisplaceable in the longitudinal direction of compression space 21 and,by means of a spring 29 at its rear end, is urged toward aperture 28 ofcompression space 21. Thus, in the position shown in FIG. 2, the tip ofpiston 27 seals aperture 28 of compression space 21.

Inside compression space 21, spring 29 extends in longitudinal directionbetween the rear end of piston 27 and a front end of a support plate 30.Support plate 30 is disposed at a front end of an adjusting screw 31and, by turning adjusting screw 31, it can be displaced in compressionspace 21, in the longitudinal direction thereof. Thereby the springforce with which spring 29 presses the tip of piston 27 against aperture28 of compression space 21 is adjustable.

During continuous delivery by high-pressure pump 25 of liquid to beatomized into compression space 21, this liquid is progressively furthercompressed in compression space 21. The pressure prevailing therein thenrises to approximately 200 to 800 bar. Thereby an increasing force isexerted on piston 27 in the longitudinal direction of compression space21, ultimately forcing it away from opening 28 of compression space 21,against the spring force exerted by spring 29.

Thereby, as shown in FIG. 3, the compressed liquid is released into theinterior of tube 32. Since a normal atmosphere of approximately 1 barprevails therein, the liquid then bursts apart explosively into minutemist particles. The mist then flows to an upper end of tube 32 and fromthere through a screen 33 into bathing cubicle 1. For this purpose, anupwardly directed suction effect is generated by fan 35, which isdisposed underneath screen 33 at the upper end of tube 32. To the sameextent that mist flows through screen 33 from tube 32 into bathingcubicle 1, make-up air can flow through supply-air apertures 36 providedat the lower end of tube 32 underneath compression spaces 21 ofatomizers 20.

In tube 32, there are mounted upper sound absorber 34 a betweencompression spaces 21 of atomizers 20 and screen 33 as well as lowersound absorber 34 b underneath compression spaces 21 of atomizers 20, inorder to absorb the sound waves produced when the liquid bursts apartexplosively into small mist particles. Each sound absorber 34 a, bcomprises a plurality of sound-absorber plates 37 a, b, which extendperpendicular to the axis of the tube, are spaced apart from one anotherand partly overlap one another. According to FIG. 4, each sound-absorberplate 37 a provides, in the cross section of tube 32, an aperture 38 athrough which the mist particles can move upward in tube 32. As viewedfrom above, each sound-absorber plate 37 a completely overlaps anaperture 38 b (illustrated by a broken line in FIG. 4) provided by asound-absorber plate 37 b disposed therebelow or thereaboverespectively.

The mist flowing through screen 33 from tube 32 as shown in FIG. 1spreads out in bathing cubicle 1 and acts on the skin of the personoccupying mist bath 2. In the process, the action of the mist on theskin is enhanced by the ultraviolet radiation emitted by UV source 8.After administration of the bath, the person can shower off with shower9 before stepping out of bath cubicle 1, and thus remove oil or saltresidues on the skin.

What is claimed is:
 1. A full-body mist-bath unit having a bathingcubicle for accommodating at least one person and atomized liquid; aliquid atomizer for preparation of the atomized liquid, which isprovided with a high-pressure chamber in which the liquid is compressedby the action of a high pressure of at least 100 bar, and with a nozzlefor explosive ejection of the compressed liquid subjected to highpressure, so that it bursts apart into small particles by virtue of itshigh internal pressure.
 2. A unit according to claim 1, wherein theliquid to be atomized is water.
 3. A unit according to claim 2, whereinsalts are additionally mixed with the water.
 4. A unit according toclaim 1, wherein the liquid to be atomized is an organic oil.
 5. A unitaccording to claim 1, wherein the bathing cubicle can be sealed suchthat it is airtight to the exterior.
 6. A unit according to claim 1,wherein a UV source is provided in the bathing cubicle.
 7. A unitaccording to claim 1, wherein a shower is provided in the bathingcubicle.
 8. A unit according to claim 1, wherein a fan is provided inthe bathing cubicle, especially in a tube of the bathing cubicle intowhich the liquid is ejected.
 9. A method for administering a full-bodymist bath to at least one person in a bathing cubicle, with thefollowing steps compression of a liquid by the action of a high pressureof at least 100 bar on the liquid; explosive ejection of the liquid, sothat it bursts apart into small particles by virtue of its high internalpressure; supplying the liquid burst apart into small particles to thebathing cubicle.
 10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the liquidis water.
 11. A method according to claim 9, wherein additional saltsare mixed with the water.
 12. A method according to claim 9, wherein theliquid is an organic oil.
 13. A method according to claim 9, wherein thefull-body mist bath is administered for 10 to 30 minutes.
 14. A methodaccording to claim 9, wherein between 0.01 and 0.5 ml of liquid isejected in each case.
 15. A method according to claim 9, wherein theliquid is ejected into a tube and supplied via the tube to the bathingcubicle.